Southern Hospitality: Stained Glass Playhouse Posted on May 3, 2015 by ghostlightreviews

Boy oh boy, do they put the “Southern” in Southern Hospitality.  From especially twangy dialects, to glittery star-spangled cowgirls, to biscuits and ham galore, the script leaves no stone south of the Mason-Dixon line unturned. Every line feels like part of the set up for a big head-shaking, groaning joke that either one identifies with or one doesn’t. If you don’t, then perhaps this show is not the one for you.

The playwrights (Jones, Hope, & Wooten) seem to enjoy continuous success as they churn out their formulaic “comedies” one right on top of the other. If I am honest, I don’t understand the draw. As long as community theatres continue to produce their stuff, they will continue to write it. It would be one thing if they were really smart about their dumb humor. If they took all of the energy they’ve spent writing 15+ plays and focused it into 3-4, perhaps the quality of all of them would be of a higher level. Unfortunately that is not the case.

However, Director Justin Bulla does a wonderful job of taking the less than stellar script and making it a fun and visually engaging experience for the patrons of Stained Glass Playhouse. There is always something going on, though sometimes to the point of upstaging, and some of the smallest choices end up producing the biggest laughs. It is clear that he put a lot of time into working with his cast. His note in the playbill says that there are some “newbies” in the cast, but after he was done with them I could not honestly tell you who they were based on the performances (though they do reveal themselves in their cast bios).

Kay Shelton as the irascible and icy aunt, Iney Dubberly, stole the show with her dead-pan deliveries of her especially cruel dialogue. I enjoyed her so much that, when a certain plot point occurs, I was left disappointed that I wouldn’t be seeing so much of her needling the other characters.

April Marshall plays the larger-than-life Rhonda, owner of the local Dairy Dog. Her laughter and enthusiasm on stage were truly infectious and I enjoyed every minute she appeared, especially her incident with a hoop skirt, though I wouldn’t have done that particular gag a second time.

I wanted to see more of both Miss Geneva Musgrave, played by Peggie Dull, and Raynerd Chism, played by Logan Chidester. Miss Geneva is loud, proud, and very much in charge of any room she graces with her presence, driving John Curtis Butner (Mark Craddock) to near insanity with her constant demands for perfection in their attempt at a Civil War re-enactment. And Raynerd Chism’s constant refrain of “I just LOVE Fayro” became more and more enjoyable as the scenes around him devolved.

The costumes by Sylvia Tyndall were fine, though at times made one uncertain if they were watching “Grease” or attending a rodeo. And one particular gag involving Rhonda Lynn would have been made much more enjoyable if it ended with a set of bloomers or other period undergarments rather than the green shorts that were chosen. The lights necessary for this show were minimal, though during scenes where there was a “full wash”, there did appear to be a large dark spot dead-center of the stage, which was somewhat distracting and could be easily fixed.

I felt the set, which does not have a designer listed, did not fully support the action of the show. While the director attempted to make the best of what he was given, the show would have benefited from a smaller house interior that didn’t take up the entire stage, particularly since half or more of the scenes do not occur within the house. Also, I kept getting a glimpse of a pastoral scene painted on the back wall of the stage, which would’ve been a great background for the scenes during the re-enactment, rather than trying to focus light in a small pool on a very small stage, which wasn’t fully effective. A lot of the exits on the stage were unnecessary, and the black curtains that were hung everywhere were distracting and at least one, perhaps two, were also unnecessary as they didn’t really block the back stage area as they were intended to. Perhaps if they placed them further offstage, at different angles, it wouldn’t detract from the action on stage. Or, if they insist on having the curtains onstage, perhaps put a beaded curtain in front of the black one, or something that is clearly not black instead and would more likely be found inside of a home. Either option would have drawn my eye less and let me enjoy the performance more.

All in all, ‘Southern Hospitality’ was a fairly enjoyable show, with the cast as the real standouts. They clearly enjoyed working together and it was more a labor of love than anything. If Southern comedy is something you enjoy, then it would be worth your time to catch this show. They have seven more performances, running May 8, 9, 15 &16 at 8pm and May 3, 10, & 17 at 3pm. Tickets are $16 for adults, with discounts for Seniors and Students, and can be purchased at the door, by calling 661-4949, or visiting their website at www.stainedglassplayhouse.org.